ScotGas want to fit a hideous white gas meter box right on the front of our victorian house....

[icravecheese]

I have told them not over my dead body....their response is that we'll be cut off if I don't!!

Their only alternative is a (equally hideous!) brown, half buried box - again, right on the front of our house by the front door. We have a beautiful victorian house that we have spent alot of £££ on having the original sash bay windows repaired (when we could've replaced them with uPVC but didnt want to as we love the period features). Having a horrible white plastic box fixed to the front of my house between the front door & bay sash windows really upsets me!

The gas guy did back down somewhat when I pointed all this out to him, but still had no better solution.

Does anyone have any experience of this, what alternatives exist?

Where are they at the moment? The only other option would be to have them inside the house.

We have the brown buried one in front of our house - but fortunately they were happy to site in the flowerbed in front of our bay windows and it's now screened by planting.

With us, we were relocating the gas meter from the cellar to outside, and this was the best option. I really forget that it is there now.

Paint it?

Either of your options would look better painted matt black and screened with plants if you have room.

Is your house listed by any chance? - if so then there is no way they can stick a box outside...

We had one fitted when we had to re-do the gas pipe. It's on the front of Edwardian house but they put it around the side of the bay window away from the door. I suppose it depends where your gas pipe runs.

I agree the don't look great, but everyone has them. I don't notice it at all now, but painting it brick coloured would make it even less obtrusive.

thanks all - after filing a complaint (they told me at 4pm yesterday afternoon that they wanted to start work today at 9am, but we went online & found out they are apparently meant to inform us in writing of any works to be done, PLUS give us 5 working days notice) a very nice site manager telephoned my husband this morning & agreed that a white box right beside the front door would look hideous, so he is bringing one of the brown, semi sunken boxes for us to see, usually used for listed buildings & in conservation areas, plus there is another option of running a pipe around the side of the house & putting the box on the back (Which we don't mind so much, it was the right beside the front door bit I hate!).

So hopefully we'll come up with a better solution - am just cross that they (a) didnt give me ANY notice at all, (b) didnt give me any other options (c) told me that I was effectively personally responsible for holding up their works & that the annoying traffic lights down our road were going to be there for longer due to me!! and (d) kept threatening me that if I didnt agree to the white box, they'd cut me off. Lovely - 3 kids under 5 and no central heating. Grrrr!

Glad I stood my ground & had abit of a barny at them - they are probably thinking mad daft woman about me now, but i'm happier with either pipework running around to the back, or brown semi-sunken box instead.

Until you need a meter replacement and they need access! Do think about access, it is very important!

apparently we're getting a new meter to go in it, as our current one is situated inside the house & won't fit in a brown box, so we need a smaller one. The pipework into the house is too thin to feed new pipework into (or something!) so instead of replacing old pipework in house, they're re-siting meter outside house.

Jeez, never thought i'd know so much about gas pipe works!!

I wouldn't go with one at the back for access reasons. (Plus they may charge you £££ for extra pipework - I've just paid a fortune to have an electricity board re-sited during building works.) Anything as bit more hidden to the side at the front won't be too noticeable - you just don't want it right by the front door.

they wanted to do the same with us last year when they changed the gas line into the house. like you we have an old victorian house which we had spent a load of money renovating. In the end they left the meter in the house and didnt put a box outside.

the sunken ones do sometimes fill up with water.

you can paint meter boxes with non-drip gloss paint. No primer and no undercoat, but clean thoroughly first.